Authorities end search on Passaic River, suspect still missing

After dredging the Passaic River today in the search for 21-year-old Juan Mendez, the prime suspect in the death of his 3-year-old niece Janiya Rivas, there was no body to be found, and authorities may continue investigating tomorrow by helicopter.

Divers, a buoy and a side-scanning sonar were brought in today to scout the murky waters, but sludge and debris made the search an obstacle, said Andy White, a spokesperson for the City of Passaic Police.

ROBERT SCIARRINO/THE STAR-LEDGERA diver enters the waters of the Passaic River, upstream form the Gregory Avenue Bridge, in search of the body of 21-year-old, Juan Mendez. The search may continue tomorrow with the aid of a helicopter. The body of his 3-year-old niece, Janiya Rivas, was pulled from the river near the bridge on Saturday about 8 a.m., two hours after her uncle had strapped her into a seat belt in his 2005 Honda Accord and driven off.

Divers jumped in upstream after the sonar detected an image late this afternoon, several hundred yards from the bridge, but authorities were unclear as to what the object was, White said. Underwater cameras probed the waters beneath the Gregory Avenue Bridge, where the toddler was found floating around 8 a.m. Saturday.

That day, authorities began a two-pronged search in the river and along the shorelines for the missing Passaic man.

"The investigation is focused in the water and on land," White said.

The search is being led by Passaic police and assisted by Wallington and Passaic City fire departments, New Jersey State Police and the Passaic County Sheriff's Department, he said.

The Sheriff's Department had three boats on the river today, and continued investigating the shorelines and nearby buildings, said Bill Maer, a spokesperson for the Passaic County Sheriff's Department. "It's a fairly comprehensive search," Maer said.

The search is expected to continue in days to come, and as long as it is a "fruitful and a realistic endeavor," Maer said.

Investigators maintain that they had received information suggesting Mendez had a "drug habit," but declined to comment on where the information came from, Maer said. "We feel confident he's been using drugs," Maer said today.

The results of Janiya's autopsy is not being released pending the investigation, said John Latoracca, Passaic County chief assistant prosecutor.

"That is not something we are going to put in the public domain at this time," Latoracca said.

Grandmother of Janiya Rivas holds press conference about her son

Janiya's mother and father, Eileen Mendez and Jose Rivas, have not spoken publicly since the toddler's body was discovered.

While both are devastated, they were hopeful that today authorities would find Mendez, said Michael Rodriguez, Jose Rivas's half-brother. "My brother was a very supportive father. Jose has always been there for her," said Rodriguez 22, of New York. He said Janiya was a happy child who was "full of life."

"The only person who knows what happened to her was him (Juan)," Rodriguez said. "We need to find him to find answers."

Family members and relatives are pouring into the Scher Place home, where Mendez lived with his family.

Mendez's mother, Eileen Camejo, 44, said today that she was waiting for news about her son.

"I want to know what happened to my son," Camejo said in Spanish. "He has to be in the river." During a press conference at her Passaic home Monday, Camejo refuted investigators' claims that Mendez used drugs.

While she does not understand why her son took Janiya to the river during the early morning hours Saturday, Camejo said she believes Mendez tried to save her life, not throw the little girl over the bridge.

Close friend Sergio Arango, 20, of Passaic, said that about two weeks ago Mendez became disturbed when he read about schizophrenia in his psychology class at Berkeley College, where he was studying business administration.

"He said, 'Everything that this chapter said is what I'm feeling,'" Arango recalled. Mendez began to feel paranoid, and had a sense that "everyone was out to get him," Arango said.

"He was a great student. He had his whole life in front of him," Arango said.